Conquest: The Mushroom Kingdom
by The-Rose-Chronicles
Summary: Zeta has set her sights on the Mushroom Kingdom and a certain celebrity in particular.
1. Chapter One

"Luigi... Luigi..." The voice rang out over and over, soft and seductive, luring Luigi further and further into the fog he couldn't see through. "Luigi..." He couldn't help but keep walking even though he didn't recognize the voice, it was like the soft call and the almost smokey smelling fog were hypnotizing him. Eventually the fog became thinner and the voice louder and Luigi quickened his pace. He began to see a silhouette in the distance and he felt his heart skip a beat in excitement.

As he finally broke through the fog, he saw that the silhouette was actually the Mushroom Kingdom from quite far away and from above. Confused, Luigi looked down and realized he was floating, he looked up and realized too that the fog was above him. He didn't feel like he was falling, nor did he feel panic until he looked forward again and saw that the Mushroom Kingdom was ablaze in blue fire. The fog above him was in fact smoke and when he tried to move forward, he suddenly heard the voice directly behind him, making him pause.

"That's the past Luigi. I am your future." Luigi was torn. On the one hand, he wanted to go make sure Mario was alright, but on the other hand, he was desperate to lay eyes on the owner of the voice that had led him there. He was jerked from his indecisive thoughts by the sudden feeling that he was falling. He looked down and saw that the ground was far too close. Just before Luigi hit the ground, he jolted upright in his bed, covered in cold sweat and panting.

It was just like last night, and the night before, and the night before for weeks. For four weeks he'd had the same dream every night, and just like every night, just before he'd jolted awake, he'd seen a pair of green eyes glaring at him in the darkness and heard that seductive voice mutter out a "wrong choice". Putting a hand to his forehead, Luigi laid back down, tossing the sheet that was clinging to him onto Mario, who was still sound asleep beside him, and sighing softly as the cool night air kissed his skin. The dream had been so strange and concerning the first time, but as it had repeated itself so often, he'd had time to get used to it and now the only part of it that concerned him was how often he thought about it. He couldn't get the voice out of his head and couldn't shake the feeling of guilt he felt whenever he thought of the disapproving way it told him "wrong choice". Not it though, he thought, she; the voice was definitely female.

Realizing he wasn't going to get back to sleep, and that the sun would be up soon anyway, Luigi got out of bed and went to take a shower. The voice kept his mind occupied as he went through his morning routine, showering, getting dressed, and starting breakfast for himself and Mario. As he cooked their breakfast, he couldn't help but think about whether or not he should tell his brother. He'd considered it just about every time he'd had the dream, and every time he got a weird feeling that told him that sharing his dream was a bad idea. That morning was no exception.

If the dream would've been causing him to lose sleep, he probably would have brought it up long ago, but as it was, the dream never woke him that much earlier than the time he normally got up to start his day anyway. If the dream would've been causing him to act strangely, he was sure Mario would've asked him what was wrong, and that would've encouraged Luigi to share, but, seeing as Mario hadn't said anything, there didn't seem to be any changes. Everything pointed to the dream being benign, strange but benign.

As Mario entered the room, Luigi managed to push down his thoughts. "Good morning." He greeted, noting how Mario was still only clad in his boxers and a little more than half asleep.

"Morning." Mario muttered, hugging Luigi around the waist from behind and leaning against him.

Smiling at how slouchy Mario was being, Luigi plated their breakfast and fixed Mario his morning cup of coffee. Upon seeing the liquid being poured into the cup, Mario seemed to wake up a bit more and let Luigi go so he could set the table.

"How are you so awake? It's too early to function." He asked groggily, grabbing his coffee mug and taking a large gulp.

"I guess I'm just a morning person." Luigi replied, finally giving Mario his good morning kiss once he'd swallowed his gulp of coffee. "Eat. I made your favorite."

After their breakfast of mushroom omelets, Mario got dressed and left for work while Luigi stayed home to start his usual housework. Except he didn't. Instead, Luigi left shortly after Mario did, but instead of going into town, he went to a nearby forest. Normally the thought of going into the forest alone would give Luigi anxiety, but around the time he'd started having the dream, he'd found himself drawn to it. Lately he'd been spending the majority of his day wandering the trees and collecting edible plants and such whenever he came across them, even taking to bringing along a satchel since he always seemed to find at least a patch of mushrooms or two.

After several hours of wandering the forest and filling his satchel with ingredients, Luigi went back to his and Mario's home and got started on the things he would've normally already had finished. He did the dishes and the laundry and when it got late enough, got started on dinner. Mario came home just before dinner was finished and they ate together while Mario told Luigi about his day. After spending some time together after dinner, the two brothers went to bed, Luigi preparing to have the dream once again. Before sleep took him, he hoped that his dream self would choose to turn around this time so he could possibly see the face of the woman who haunted him every night.

It would take another week before Luigi would finally get his wish.

The smell of smoke permeated the air and when Luigi looked around, trying to find the source, he saw the Mushroom Kingdom burning in blue flames. His immediate reaction was confusion and he took a step forward only to be halted by a voice.

"Luigi."

Without hesitating, Luigi spun around to see a woman standing just a few feet behind him. She was absurdly tall and her skin was grey as though made of the ash that had suddenly begun to rain down on them like gentle snow. Her eyes were a striking green and she smiled approvingly at him. "You're finally ready."

Eyes opening slowly, Luigi laid in bed, not covered in sweat like he normally would have been and not feeling the usual feeling of guilt that followed waking from the dream. As he laid there and his senses slowly made their way back to him, he thought that perhaps that was because it wasn't THE dream, it was a similar dream, but not the one that had been haunting him for weeks. Then the dream slowly became clearer as his mind woke more and more and he realized with a great rush of shock and excitement that he'd seen the woman. The woman who called to him every night and showed him the image of his home burning, the woman who's green eyes were suddenly so familiar and easily recognized as the eyes that glared at him whenever he "failed", the woman that he'd waited so long and been so eager to see.

Glancing to his left, Luigi looked out the window of his and Mario's bedroom only to see, to his great surprise, that it was still night, the moon still high in the sky. He'd never woken up from a dream so far from sunrise. From the looks of the moon, the sun wouldn't be up for quite some time. Despite what must've been barely a nap, Luigi felt awake, well-rested even, like he could get up and start the next day before the one they were in had even finished. Lost in his thoughts, Luigi's eyes had strayed from the window and when they returned, he saw a dark silhouette standing just far enough away that he couldn't really make out any details.

Sitting up immediately, Luigi stared at the figure and then realized, with a mix of fear and excitement, that the figure might not be as far away as he thought. There was a thick blanket of fog hanging in the air that obscured the figure and made it hard for Luigi to properly gauge their distance. Knowing what to do thanks to his dreams, even though he wasn't sure he wasn't still in one, Luigi didn't bother checking if Mario was still sleeping or not. Instead, he stood up, put on his slippers and bathrobe, and made his way to the front door of his home.

When he opened the door, he expected to see nothing, no fog, no woman, just an empty front yard. Instead, he was greeted by the earthy smell of wet dirt as the ground absorbed the moisture in the air, and the figure standing at an angle that made Luigi somehow know that it was facing him. The smell of wet earth made Luigi calm down instantly as he realized that the fog was indeed fog and not smoke like it usually was. Pulling his robe around himself tighter to fight against the unseasonably cold night air, Luigi began to make his way towards the figure.

It stood still, waiting for him, and when Luigi finally got close enough, he realized the figure was standing in front of the large tree he often hung his and Mario's wet clothes from to dry. The figure was just taller than himself by a few inches and draped in a black hooded cloak that obscured it's features. For a moment Luigi was silent, trying to decide whether or not he should speak to the figure. If this was the woman from his dreams, then he was certain he was dreaming again and, judging by past experiences, she'd be the one doing the talking. If the figure wasn't the woman from his dreams, then Luigi realized he might be in some danger, standing in his pajamas in front of a hooded figure in obscuring fog.

"It took you long enough to come to me, Luigi." It was definitely her, he'd recognize her voice anywhere.

"This is another dream." He said slowly, even with the bite of the cold against his face telling him otherwise.

"No, this is real. I'm real." The woman said, lowering her hood so Luigi could see her face and the striking green eyes that now glittered instead of looking cold like they had every time Luigi had failed her test. "But in the morning, it'll probably feel like a dream."

"Who are you?" Luigi asked, moving closer to the woman. As much as he was curious about her, he also felt oddly afraid. Something about the woman intimidated him and completely negated her alluring voice and appearance.

"My name is Zeta."

"Are you a witch?"

"Not exactly." Zeta replied with a grin. "But I'm something close enough."

"Why have I been dreaming about you? And about the kingdom burning?"

"It was my way of testing you." Zeta stepped forward and then began to circle Luigi slowly, her movements almost as fluid as if she were floating along the ground instead of walking. "I've been waiting for you to be ready to receive my gift."

"A gift?" Luigi asked timidly, watching Zeta with his eyes when he could and nervously shuffling in place when he couldn't, not daring to turn and face her.

"Yes." Zeta stopped in front of Luigi, much closer than before, and held her hands out in front of herself, parting her cloak to reveal and entirely black outfit. In her hands she held a black mushroom with purple and blue spots on the cap.

"What is it?" Luigi wanted to back away but didn't dare, he also didn't dare take the mushroom.

"It will awaken the part of you that you've been hiding for far too long. The part of you that you took the first steps towards embracing when you turned your back on your burning kingdom to follow your selfish desires."

Suddenly feeling guilty about his decision, Luigi frowned deeply. "That was just a dream, I didn't have any control over what dream me chose."

"It's comforting to believe that, isn't it?" Zeta asked condescendingly, smirking at Luigi when his eyes narrowed. "I wasn't judging your selfish decision, I'm proud of you. Now, unless you want to go back to being Mario's timid little brother who's name no one can ever remember, take the mushroom."

Eyes drifting down to the mushroom, Luigi regarded it for a moment longer before taking it. "You're the reason I haven't been as afraid of things lately, aren't you?" He asked quietly, looking up at Zeta and noting the pleased expression on her face.

"Somewhat. I was just giving you a small taste of what you've always had inside of you. That mushroom will do what I did to a much greater effect."

Nodding, Luigi took a deep breath and popped the mushroom into his mouth. He found that it had the same earthy flavor most mushrooms had but with a rather bitter aftertaste, as though it were poisonous. Grimacing lightly at the flavor, Luigi swallowed and stuck his tongue out a bit.

"Yes, I know it's unpleasant, but you'll be grateful for having suffered through it in the morning." Zeta stood beside Luigi and put a hand on the small of his back, starting to guide him back to his house. "Now, you need to sleep. The effects are even more unpleasant than the taste and you don't want to go through them awake."

"Alright." Luigi did, in fact, suddenly feel quite tired and he wasn't sure if Zeta was causing it or if it was his barely having gotten any rest before the dream had woken him up catching up to him. "Will I see you again?" The question felt odd to ask, but Luigi also felt he needed to know.

"Of course. You're a, let's say project, of mine now. You'll be seeing me quite a lot." Zeta replied, catching Luigi when he collapsed after a sleepy nod and taking him to bed.


	2. Chapter Two

When Luigi awoke the next morning, the sun was barely beginning to chase away the frost from the cold night previous. He slowly sat up as that night came back to him and he looked around the room. Everything looked off. He couldn't quite pinpoint how, but his brain was having a mildly concerning amount of trouble recognizing the room he'd slept in for most of his adult life as just that. Luigi got out of bed slowly and realized immediately that his slippers and bathrobe weren't where he always left them, causing him to question whether the night before had really just been a dream. Frowning a bit, Luigi walked to the restroom and had to do a double take when he passed by his reflection. He looked off. Again, he couldn't pinpoint how, but now his brain was having a hard time recognizing himself.

Forcing down the feeling that everything was just a little off, Luigi began to go about his day, finding an almost meditative peace in cooking that morning. As he chopped and diced the vegetables he'd collected from the forest the day before, his mind cleared and the world didn't seem so strange anymore. By the time he was done cooking and Mario was awake enough to join him for breakfast, the world was almost completely back to normal.

The two brothers had just finished their breakfast when there suddenly came a frantic knocking on the front door. Luigi, who had already been up putting the dishes into the sink while Mario finished his morning coffee, hurried to answer it. There stood a Toad, panting and red-faced as though he'd run all the way from town to his and Mario's home.

"B-Bowser!" Was all the Toad had to wheeze out before Mario was up and at Luigi's side. "The castle! Hurry!" Then the Toad scampered off down the road that led into town once more, this time being trailed by the two brothers.

Before the group had even reached the massive wall that surrounded the kingdom, they could see an entire fleet of Bowser's airships surrounding Princess Peach's castle. The town itself was in complete pandemonium, Toads panicking and running this way and that, hurrying to get into a building for shelter or to collect loved ones who were unaware of what looked like impending doom lingering in the sky. Picking up the pace, Mario and Luigi burst through the doors of the castle to find Peach reading over a piece of paper with a Goomba standing nearby.

"What's going on?" Mario asked, hurrying over and getting ready to stomp the Goomba if Peach gave him the word.

"Bowser would like to speak with me--us." Peach handed the paper over to Mario for him to look over. "Apparently he's got something for us all to hear."

"Sup, Peachy? We need to have a little chit-chat. Invite over your bodyguards. Love, Bowser." Mario read aloud, furrowing his brow. "Peachy?"

"Bodyguards? Plural? With an 's'?" Luigi asked, taking the paper and reading it over before looking equally confused. "Plural."

"No doubt some sort of trick." Peach sighed, looking down at the Goomba who'd delivered the letter and who looked oddly calm despite the one person who could give it the worst whomping of it's life being in the room.

"Is that a no?" He asked, having waited patiently and quietly for the Princess's response up until that point.

"No. We'll have a "chit-chat". If he tries anything, I have the kingdom's greatest defender here. Regardless of his armada, I have confidence in Mario."

Giving a tilt of his body in lieu of a nod, as his body and head were practically one in the same, the Goomba left.

Annoyed by the fact that Peach had neglected to include him when even Bowser, for once, had had the decency to do so, Luigi quietly left the castle. If anyone noticed him leaving, no one said anything. Luigi walked out to the courtyard and looked up at the fleet of ships before looking out at the rest of the kingdom. What had been pandemonium just moments before was now more of a town gathering. Toads filled the streets, pointing at the armada and chatting but certainly not panicking any longer.

As Luigi looked on at the crowd, a few words of conversation managed to find their ways to him. "Thank the stars Mario got here in time." "Nothing to worry about now." "Mario will protect us." "Why were we even worrying?" "Just let Bowser try something with Mario around." Luigi was vaguely aware of one of his lower eyelids twitching a bit. Luckily for the chatty Toads below, Luigi's attention was captured by a small ship that was coming down from the largest one in the fleet.

Figuring that must either be Bowser coming down to talk or whatever trick he was planning on pulling, Luigi went back inside and nudged Mario's arm. "Incoming." He said flatly, ignoring the odd look Mario was giving him. He was likely surprised by Luigi's lack of fear or even nervousness. Luigi was surprised by it too, but he certainly wasn't complaining; it felt good to not be afraid for once. Suddenly a memory from the night before surfaced in Luigi's mind.

"You're the reason I haven't been as afraid of things lately, aren't you?" Luigi asked quietly, looking up at Zeta.

"Somewhat. I was just giving you a small taste of what you've always had inside of you. That mushroom will do what I did to a much greater effect."

Luigi barely had any time to ponder his thoughts before the doors to the castle were flung open quite dramatically. Everyone expected to see Bowser striding into the room and were shocked when instead they saw a humanish woman, taller than even Bowser himself and with skin the color of ash. Her striking green eyes swept over the assemblage and Luigi recognized them immediately as Zeta's. They lingered on him longer than on anyone else and she flashed him a smirk before turning her attention to Princess Peach.

"Hey there, Peachy." Zeta greeted, pulling out a chair at the table they were all standing near and sitting down. "Super happy you could take time out of your "busy schedule" to speak with me today." Zeta propped one of her elbows on the table and even gave air quotations to match her sarcastic tone when she said "busy schedule". She was planning on making quite the first impression.

"Who are you?" Peach asked, uncertainly taking her seat. Mario and Luigi followed shortly after, Mario sitting beside the princess and Luigi sitting beside him. "I thought I would be speaking with Bowser."

"My name is Zeta. Bowser and I have found ourselves rather chummy in a mutual dislike of you and yours and so I'm here to succeed where he's always failed. In short, I'm here for your kingdom." Zeta's rather confident speech was sullied a bit by her suddenly looking quite perplexed. "Or queendom." She paused once more, frowning. "Princessdom? Well, whatever. You know what I mean." Zeta huffed, waving her hand in the air a bit.

"Indeed I do." Peach wasn't sure if she should be amused or intimidated. Zeta certainly had an intimidating presence about her but at the same time she seemed somewhat silly, as though she wasn't taking any of this seriously. "I'm afraid I'm in no position to surrender it to you, however."

"I had a feeling you would say that." Zeta said, grinning predatorily as she rested both elbows on the table, laced her fingers together, and rested her chin on the nest they made. "I must however insist that you back down quietly. I wouldn't want anything unfortunate to happen to you or your... people?" Zeta's intimidating demeanor was once again interrupted by her making a face and she even broke apart the nest she'd made for her chin to lightly smack one of her hands against the table. "Seriously, could your world be any more confusing? I don't know what to call anything. It's frustrating."

Ignoring Zeta's little rant, Peach tilted her chin up slightly in a mildly indignant fashion. "Was that a threat?"

"Not necessarily." Zeta replied coyly, now idly picking at her pointed black nails. "I'm just saying that refusing to give in quietly could be, could, not necessarily would, be bad for your health."

"That's a threat!" Mario cut in, standing and slamming his hands on the table. He'd managed to sit quiet up until that point but no one threatened his princess and got away with it. "At least when Bowser threatens us, he has the gall to come out and say it!"

There was a missed beat in the room as Luigi nervously glanced at the suddenly straight-faced Zeta out of the corner of his eyes before she stood up slowly and stared down at Mario with her now-cold gaze. "Very well, you overrated little sack of shit." She said calmly, voice low and even. "If your whore doesn't give her kingdom to me, I'll burn it to the ground and kill every last one of her subjects before dropping her into a pool of lava in front of Bowser's men as the main event of our victory feast." Zeta calmly laid her hands flat on the table and leaned in real close to Mario, her straight face giving way to a cruel grin and causing his pale face to go even whiter. "We'll be having charred mushroom as the main course." She breathed, backing down only when Mario practically fell back to his seat and sitting back down herself. "How's that for clear?" She chirped happily, grinning broadly at an equally-pale Princess Peach.

The room was completely silent at first but it took less than a minute for the silence to be broken by one of the chairs at the table moving. It was Luigi. Scooting his chair away from the table, Luigi got up, pushed the chair back in, walked around to the other side of the table where Zeta sat, and took a new seat beside her. It took yet another moment for Mario's shocked, pale face to go red with anger.

"What are you doing, Luigi!?" He bellowed, standing once again and looking at his brother incredulously.

"Making the right choice, Mario." Luigi said calmly, his voice and expression so cold that it broke through Mario's anger, allowing confusion and concern to knit his brows and clench his jaw.

"Looks like one of the kingdom's greatest defenders actually has a brain." Zeta commented with a triumphant smirk that lasted only a second before being replaced by an expression of anger. "Or I guess technically not since none of you bumbling idiots consider Luigi here to be anything more than the brother of the kingdom's only defender." Suddenly Peach looked quite guilty and Mario looked as though he'd been struck across the face.

"Oh, don't look so shocked." Luigi said, voice more venomous than it had ever been before. "Like you're so oblivious to how everyone idolizes you and ignores me." Glancing to his side, Luigi looked at Zeta. "You wrote that note to the princess, didn't you?" Zeta gave a nod and Luigi looked at Mario once again. "Bodyguards, Mario. Plural. Zeta sees me for who I am, for who I can be. She doesn't treat me like I'm just the unfortunate sibling of a celebrity."

"And that's really enough to make you betray your family!? Your kingdom!?" Peach shouted, just as shocked as Mario.

"Don't pretend like you care, princess." Zeta hissed, putting a spiteful emphasis on "princess". "You've shown time and again that you think Mario is perfectly capable of defending you and your trash kingdom all on his own, so let's put that to the test." She stood, staring down icily at a very frightened Peach. "Negotiations are over. I got what I really came down here for, so now it's time for war." Luigi took that as his cue to stand as well and as Zeta began to leave, he followed.

"Luigi, my brother, please, don't do this." Mario begged, catching Luigi's hand before he could even leave the table and looking pleadingly at him.

Glancing at his hand in Mario's, Luigi looked up at his brother's face and sneered. "Good luck fighting alone." He spat, jerking his hand away and getting into the small aircraft with Zeta before it took off. Seconds after they were airborne, Zeta turned to the largest ship and dragged her finger across her neck. The siege of the Mushroom Kingdom by Bowser's men began on her signal, the airships around the castle spilling fourth the thousands of troops they collectively held.

Looking over the side of the small ship that he was in, Luigi witnessed the very beginning of carnage the likes of which he'd never seen before. It didn't bother him though. He found that he actually felt nothing. It wasn't until he caught sight of Mario fighting that he began to feel anything. He felt pleased that Mario would be taking on such an onslaught all on his own. Luigi secretly hoped that his brother's last thought would be a wish to not have taken him for granted for so long.

"Like what you see?" Zeta asked, standing beside Luigi to look out at the massacre below them.

"Yeah. It's missing something though." Luigi looked up at Zeta with a small smirk gracing his lips and Zeta grinned widely.

"I agree." Hand alighting in blue fire, Zeta aimed at Peach's castle and let a fireball fly. The castle burst into flames quickly and the fire spread equally fast, eating all of the inhabitants of the kingdom while leaving Bowser's men unharmed. It had taken alot out of her to imbue enough amulets with her magic for every member of Bowser's army to be fireproof, but as a cacophonia of laughs and screams billowed up with the smoke, Zeta knew it had been worth it. "Better?"

"Perfect."


End file.
